Berkshire Theatre Group Presents Robert Sherwood's THE PETRIFIED FOREST

Four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forestbegins performances, Thursday, August 2 at 7pm, The Fitzpatrick Main Stage (83 East Main Street) in Stockbridge, MA. Opening night is Saturday, August 4 at 8pm. Directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner David Auburn (Proof), The Petrified Forest features: David Adkins (Homeland BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming) as Alan Squier; Joel Austin(Brilliant Traces) as Lineman 2/Legion Commander; Lauren Baez (West Side Story) as Paula;Rebecca Brooksher (Dying City BTG: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Anna Christie) as Gabby Maple;Joey Collins (The Glass Menagerie BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming) as Ruby;Sean Cullen (Michael Clayton, South Pacific) as Jason Maple; Jeremy Davidson (Army Wives, Brothers and Sisters BTG: Quills; Wilder, Wilder, Wilder) as Duke Mantee; Tre' Alexander Dukes (The Piano Lesson) as Pyles; Jennifer Van Dyck (Hedda Gabler BTG:Coastal Disturbances, The Stillborn Lover) as Mrs. Chisholm; Shawn Fagan (Henry IV Part One) as Boze Hertzlinger; Walter Hudson (The Pirates of Penzance BTG: Arsenic and Old Lace, Sylvia) as Mr. Chisholm; John Thomas Waite (Amadeus) as Gramp Maple and Devin White (Last Days of Judas Iscariot) as Jackie. This production is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Greylock Insurance Agency, Red Lion Inn, Massachusetts Cultural Council and The Shubert Foundation.

A waitress named Gabby Maple, longing for poetry and romance; disillusioned writer Alan Squier; and fugitive killer Duke Mantee sweat out a manhunt with a handful of colorful characters in an Arizona diner. This yearning tale, written in 1934, is directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner David Auburn (Proof).

Written by four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert E. Sherwood, The Petrified Forest premiered on Broadway in 1935, and starred, a then unknown, Humphrey Bogart, which proved to be Bogart's breakthrough performance. Bogart reprised his now famous role alongside Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in the film version the following year. Howard would go on to star inGone With The Wind, and Bogart would go on star in film classics such as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen (for which he won an Academy Award). In 1999, Bogart was named by the American Film Institute (AFI) as the Greatest Male Star of All Time, and Bette Davis went on to be named the second Greatest Female Star of All Time by the AFI.

The Petrified Forest is a nod to Berkshire Theatre's illustrious past. Berkshire Theatre and the Sherwood family have a long history together-Robert's sister, Cynthia Sherwood, performed in a number of plays at The Fitzpatrick Main Stage, including starring alongside Ethel Barrymore in Déclassé.

His other sister, Rosamond "Roz" Sherwood, was a Trustee at the Berkshire Theatre Festival (1953-1989) and a Stockbridge resident who Robert often visited.

The Petrified Forest will play the following performance schedule: Monday-Thursday at 7pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm.

Tickets for The Petrified Forest are $66, and $45 for Previews. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield or by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sundays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

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